Academic Departments & Programs

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Human Health

The Center for the Study of Human Health is the nexus for cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional collaboration on health and provides the organizational structure to accomplish horizontal integration of Emory's extraordinary and diverse assets. The Center achieves connections and synergies in health education, research and practice fostering intellectual exchange among a community of scholars whose interests span the science of health and the social and cultural dimensions of health and humanity.

Courses

Human Health Program 100-Level Courses

It is increasingly evident that individual involvement in personal health has profound benefits. This course provides students the opportunity to become involved in a personalized approach to health and well-being with strategic approaches for the implementation of a healthy lifestyle.

After completing HLTH 100, students may work on specific translational health projects within the Emory community. These intensive interactive experiences will be guided by student health mentors with faculty oversight. May be repeated for up to 3 CU.

For millennia, humans have relied on environmental resources like plants and animal products for their medicines. Some of the great scientific journeys that have contributed to the rediscovery of these important natural medicines provide a view on what it takes to find the medicines of the future

This course offers students interactions and hands-on experience with a diverse group of individuals at Emory and in the community to expand their understanding of the science of health and to consider strategic approaches for the development and implementation of healthy behaviors and choices.

Epidemiology is the study of disease patterns, and determinants, within a population and the application of this information to mitigate public health problems. Students will learn to apply basic principles of epidemiology and biostatistics to identification and analysis of public health problems.

This course introduces the evidence base for the science of health and emphasizes STEM educational translations to the population, clinic and individual levels. Innovative efforts are needed to drive changes in health care from a reactive, disease-focused system to a proactive health-focused one.

This class focuses on the science of nutrition, with emphases on functions and interactions of micronutrients and how they affect human physiology, how dietary requirements for individuals and specific populations are developed, issues of food safety and policy are considered.

The science of nutrition will be explored as it relates to individual food choice and overall health. Application topics include digestion, obesity, metabolism, sports nutrition, nutritional genomics, and predictive health. Nutritional needs will be addressed using a functional approach.

Health is personal, encompassing a range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences, influenced by culture. This seminar will consider the evidentiary base for alternative and complementary approaches to health and well-being.

An introduction to the overall field of global health, its history, methods, and key principles, with case studies illustrating the burden of disease in nations with strikingly different political-economic contexts.

By placing a great emphasis on grammar, oral and written comprehension, reading, and cultural knowledge, this course prepares students for the practicalities of using French within an international setting while introducing them to issues central to health communities in France.

Human Health Program 300-Level Courses

This course provides students the opportunity to become involved in a personalized approach to health and well-being by sharing with peers strategic approaches for the implementation of a healthy lifestyle. Offered Yearly. Repeatable for up to Twelve Semester Hours.

This course covers basic epidemiologic methods used in public health research. Topics to be covered include basic study design, measures of disease frequency, measures of effect, types of bias, and options for control of co-variates with an introduction to modeling.

This course covers basic epidemiologic methods used in public health research. Topics to be covered include basic study design, measures of disease frequency, measures of effect, types of bias, and options for control of covariates with an introduction to modeling

This is a research seminar exploring the intersection of genomics, the environment, and lifestyle/behavior as it pertains to human health from a developmental perspective with the aim of understanding human health over the lifespan.

Getting a good night's sleep is critical in promoting health and well-being. To better understand this link, we will examine how inadequate sleep may contribute to a range of disorders and examine current research efforts to understand why we need sleep and how the body regulates sleep.

Trillions of symbiotic microbes composing the human microbiota are crucial for our health. We will examine the vital functions provided by the human microbiome, as well as its association with disease states, including obesity, insulin resistance, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and more.

This course examines the physiological basis for changing nutrient needs throughout the life cycle. Topics may include growth and development, nutrition assessment, age-specific dietary recommendations for optimal health and disease prevention, and sociocultural influences on dietary patterns.

This course explores bioethical issues related to disability. Focuses on foundational theories of bioethics, disability, and disability studies and apply these to contemporary concerns. Examines traditional biomedical and bioethical perspectives, as well as those from disability studies literature.

This course will examine various human rights theories and apply them to issues related to population and individual health. The course will focus on human health as a human rights issue and relationships between health and other human rights issues, and environmental impacts on health/health care.

Human health is intrinsically linked to dietary practices. The pharmacological properties of foods will be examined and case studies of dietary complexes will be examined in order to better understand the food-medicine continuum as a determinant of health and well-being.

This course emphasizes core issues in global health, explores the identification of global health priorities, the nature of global health organizations and the challenges to finding and implementing solutions. The focus changes with the instructor

This course emphasizes core issues in global health, explores the identification of global health priorities, the nature of global health organizations and the challenges to finding and implementing solutions. The focus changes with the instructor

This course aims to explore the issues that arise when placing Western concepts of mental health and disorder in non-Western cultures, psychiatric diagnoses as they are represented in various cultural environments and how people experience and interact within various psychiatric healing systems.

Course examines 20th century U.S. history via the century's most notable pharmaceutical drugs. Covers changing definitions and expectations of drugs; influence of race, gender, class, and culture on drug use and promotion; and relationship between drugs and the definition of disease over time.

Course examines 20th century U.S. history via the century's most notable pharmaceutical drugs. Covers changing definitions and expectations of drugs; influence of race, gender, class, and culture on drug use and promotion; and relationship between drugs and the definition of disease over time.

Not only is France pivotal in the scientific history of public health and modern medicine, but concepts of health are embodied in French life styles that are only now seeking articulation in modern health discourse. The class explores these cultural influences on health and health policy.

The history of public health and disease prevention in France with special attention to Paris from the Middle Ages to the 20th century considers how epidemics reshape societies, how theories of disease causation change over time, how French ideals have influenced American medicine and public health.

France is the site of historically significant issues and discoveries in health. Students are offered the opportunity to focus on a topic of thei choice to pursue under faculty guidance while taking benefit of the environment that Paris offers for hands-on experiences.

Human Health Program 400-Level Courses

Students who complete Health 300 initiate science-based health projects while further developing mentoring skills. Projects are selected by faculty from proposals submitted in prior semester. Project teams may include students who successfully complete Health 100 with faculty guidance.

Stress is an interface between health and disease/ Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is the study of the interface between the brain, behavior, and immunity. This course will provide an overview of current theories, empirical findings, and "hot topics" in the growing field of PNI

Acute stress can have protective properties while chronic stress can have detrimental effects on our health. This course will explore the physiological response to real and perceived stress to understand the mechanisms underlying these responses.

Predictive health is a paradigm change in the science of health. This class focuses on the challenges posed by this changing perspective, and involves critical analysis and consideration of solutions to present day health issues

This seminar presentes data supporting developmental processes as an important basis for health and well being and addresses a way forward with which to confront the challenge of chronic diseases increasing globally.

This is the required capstone course for the Human Health major, to be taken in the final year. Students will be expected to undertake a focused project that will demonstrate proficiency from problem solving approaches to multidisciplinary aspects of health.

This course aims to introduce students to emerging concepts and approaches for understanding human health and disease in terms of interactions between the genome and the exposome. Methodological aspects will be emphasized and a systems biology view will be presented.

This courses considers the meaning and nature of risk in health from the viewpoints of epidemiology, society, and culture, in historical perspective. Discussion will focus on the definitions of risk, disease, and health and how the categorization of a behavior as a risk factor is determined.

Nutrition is at the center of a cultural dialogue about health. The line between scientific knowledge and cultural ideology is increasingly unclear. This course will systematically cover many misnomers, myths and fads in our society in contrast to the science of nutrition.

The nature of evidence, cases studies for clinical trials, informs classification and determination of mental health and mental illness. Psychological, neurological, historical, and cultural perspectives are considered in the context of an increasing public health concern with mental health

Mankind has long recognized that plants are extremely useful as source of medicine. Medical traditions based on botanical sources are found in all human cultures and date back to prehistory. In this course both ancient and modern day botanical traditions across many cultures will be examined.

We examine issues affecting population health across time and place with tools from public and predictive health, and identify the influence of economics, politics, culture, and society on biomedical and epidemiological criteria of disease causality.

Under faculty mentorship, students propose a focused research question and design a reading plan to explore the available evidence in depth through independent study. Students will write a semester paper which describes our current understanding of the topic and critiques the available evidence.